Mainstream Cases Roundup: HEC, Gigabyte and Raidmax. Page 6

Today we are going to discuss three system cases and their modifications from the mainstream price segment from such popular brands as HEC, Gigabyte and Raidmax. Hopefully our article will help you make your choice.

Raidmax Smilodon

Raidmax products are distinguishable for their nonstandard design. System cases from this manufacturer are often referred to as “revolutionary”, “stylish”, “gaming” and all the other terms in use at the marketing department.

To see for myself, I will check out the Smilodon, an elite system case model from Raidmax.

Well, this system case looks unusual indeed. There are no absolutely nonstandard shapes or solutions or anything in it, yet the Smilodon can hardly be called a regular product of its class. The appearance of the Smilodon is somewhat aggressive, especially with its highlighting turned on, and such products are preferred by gamers, modders, and other young people.

Note that there is no connector or button on the front panel. Everything is hidden behind the magnet-held door. Unfortunately, there is no lock, so this protection against small children who are so fond of pressing shiny buttons doesn’t look secure.

From a technical viewpoint, the door is designed as a metallic grid stretched out on a frame. It doesn’t look as bad as it sounds, though. The door is quite sturdy and nice-looking. Its design allows the air to pass freely into the system case. The intake 120mm fan installed behind the door does not have to suck the air out of slits or something, producing a lot of noise.

The Power and Reset buttons are placed near the two external 3.5-inch bays. Interestingly, no LED indicators are visible…

Take note of the four wires going out of the system case in the bottom corner of the door. Here are the LEDs. The overall highlighting is an indication that the computer is up and running while the red indicator of HDD activity is snugly fitted on one of the cross bars of the door.

There is a standard selection of interface connectors behind the door: two audio connectors in the center and two USB ports at the sides. The interfaces are positioned properly and do not get in each other’s way. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not have the room or desire to install eSATA and FireWire connectors.

The only thing I don’t like is that the block of interface connectors is placed behind a cover. You won’t be able to close the latter if you’ve connected a device to the system case. The bottom position of that block is not a good solution for a full-size system case, either. Such cases usually stand on the floor.

There is a huge plastic window in the left side panel with two standard vent grids. 80mm fans are already installed in them. The top fan is fastened on the side panel itself while the bottom one resides on a metallic cross bar inside the case. The bar is very close to the side panel, though.

The back panel is almost standard and has one preinstalled 120mm fan. The wavy cut through the entire panel is intriguing. I will explain its purpose shortly.

The right panel is quite a surprise, too. It has vent holes behind which a third 80mm fan can be seen (to remind you, these fans are added to help the two main 120mm fans; it is a very rare thing for a mainstream system case to have such an abundance of fans). Judging by the position of this fan, it is driving the air into the top part of the 3.5-inch bays.